Rare political phenomenon

There's something strange about an electoral defeat launching a presidential campaign. But 2020 is shaping up to be a strange election cycle.

Beto O'Rourke captured the imagination of Democrats across America with his energetic yet ultimately unsuccessful 2018 bid to unseat Ted Cruz in Texas.

He became a social media star, packed rallies across the state and posted fundraising numbers more akin to a presidential contender than a Senate hopeful.

Now he is a presidential contender.

Few of the former congressman from El Paso's competitors have matched his star power.

Bernie Sanders has his passionate devotees. Kamala Harris pulled 20,000 to her campaign kickoff in Oakland. But Mr O'Rourke has the potential to match them cheer for cheer.

Sensible journalists swoon. "Beto" attire has been spotted in Brooklyn coffee shops and on the head of basketball star LeBron James. Despite a paper-thin resume, Mr O'Rourke is a rare political phenomenon.

His challenge in the race will be to put some policy meat on the inspirational rhetoric. In his first appearance in Iowa, he said: "There's no sense in campaigning if you already know every answer."

Given that he'll be up against opponents who have much more developed ideas for what they would do as president, however, he needs to come up with at least a few well-developed answers.

The late Texas writer Molly Ivins once observed that a successful presidential candidate has to have "a little Elvis in him". Mr O'Rourke has Elvis in spades. Enough Elvis to open a Las Vegas casino.